Inside Croydon

That august group of people, the Streatham Society, is staging a Beating the Bounds walk on Saturday May 24, which promises to be full of history, and some hills.

“Beating the Bounds” an ancient custom that involves walking the boundaries of a parish or area, stopping at boundary markers to “beat” them with wands, to reinforce the community’s knowledge of its boundaries, from a time when Google Maps wasn’t as available as it is today.

Transport for London will begin construction work this summer along the A23 at Streatham Hill to make it “safer and better for residents and those visiting the area”. The works, to be conducted in five stages, are likely to continue until spring 2027, TfL says.

The scheme will create new pedestrian crossings, a protected cycling route and improvements to bus lanes.

“Currently, roads in the area do not make it easy or attractive to walk or catch the bus,” TfL says.

A survey published this week shows that the Streatham and Croydon North MP is one of the least popular figures in the government – and that’s among his own party’s supporters. By WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor

Bad news for Steve Reed. The Streatham and Croydon North MP is less popular than Keir Starmer. And that’s just the opinion of Labour voters.

Late on a sunny April afternoon last year, David Walcott and Rammon Mali, together with a third man, strolled down Surrey Street, still busy at the end of the market day, then crossed Croydon High Street and popped into the Spread Eagle pub, where they went to the bar and ordered three pints of Guinness. They paid with a £20 note.

As they started their stouts, they phoned for a taxi, but they walked out of the pub on to Katharine Street, leaving their drinks unfinished, when bar staff asked them to remove their hats, as it was against house rules.

Steve Reed OBE, the “townie” environment minister, was exposed as being out of his depth once again when he tried to give a speech to the annual conference of the National Farmers’ Union held in Westminster yesterday.

The Labour MP for Streatham and Croydon North, local party members will say, has spent much of his first 12 years in Parliament dodging difficult questions and any scrutiny of his conduct.

Yesterday, there was no hiding place for Reed.

Housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, looks at a planning application for a £75m scheme that the developers hoped you might never notice

What do you mean, you had no idea that there have been plans submitted for a massive development of nearly 300 homes and a 84-bed care home on a 21-acre sports ground in Norbury?

That’s probably because while the site borders Croydon, the old NatWest Sports Ground on Turle Road, Streatham, comes under Merton Council.

Thousands of homes and businesses, including 11 care homes and 29 schools, in the Streatham, Penge and Sydenham areas are without water or enduring low water pressure for a third day today, following a burst water main in Crystal Palace on Tuesday.

Thames Water has issued a statement saying that as it resumes supplies, householders who experience some cloudy water or water with bubbles in, this “is still safe to drink”.

ANDREW FISHER on the contradictions, ironies and utter inadequacy of the government’s approach to the water company polluters; plus even more Council Tax rip-offs coming our way

At the end of January, the government passed the Water (Special Measures) Bill through Parliament. Labour claims it heralds “tough penalties for law breaking water bosses”, “new powers to ban bonuses for rogue water execs”, “severe fines for water companies” and “more investment into our water system that works for you”.

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A former Music Hall performer used his modelling genius to brighten the lives of countless children in one Croydon department store, while creating famous stage dummies including Archie Andrews and Lord Charles. DAVID MORGAN looks back on the work of Len Insull

Memories and reminiscences are still plentiful when talking about the three department stores – or departmental stores, as they called themselves – which once adorned Croydon High Street.

Many of Croydon’s residents have fond memories of Kennards, which originally opened on North End in 1853.

Drug dealers McNeil Colly and Keston Redhead, who tried to buy a handgun by mail order, have been jailed following a National Crime Agency investigation.

The Taurus self-loading pistol was seized by Border Force officers at Stansted Airport in July 2023. It was hidden inside the packaging for a metallic safe box, along with two empty 9mm magazines.

Colly, 48, from Streatham, and Keston Redhead, 35, an asylum seeker from Trinidad and Tobago, were found guilty of importation of a firearm and conspiracy to import Class A drugs following a seven-week trial.